In Spanish, the definite determiner <i>el</i> &#8216;the&#8217; can optionally appear in the left periphery of subject/complement clauses. The previous studies devoted to these clauses (henceforth <i>el que</i> clauses) propose that they should be analyzed as NPs instead of CPs. From the semantic point of view, it has been claimed that since <i>el que</i> clauses can only be selected by factive verbs, the propositions conveyed by them are presupposed. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it seeks to describe more accurately the distribution of <i>el que</i> clauses since I show that certain other verbs that are not factives can also take these clauses. And second, I claim that their propositional content would be better analyzed as background non-asserted information rather than as presupposed propositions.